1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat exchanger, and more specifically to a heat exchanger which is to be installed in a small limited space such as a condenser used in an air conditioner for vehicles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional heat exchanger for use as a condenser in an automobile is constructed, for example, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. The heat exchanger has a pair of header pipes 1 and 2 extending in parallel relation with each other, and a plurality of flat heat-transfer tubes 3 disposed between the header pipes in parallel relation with one another and connected to the header pipes at their end portions. A plurality of radiation fins 4 are provided between flat heat-transfer tubes 3 to accelerate the radiation from the flat heat-transfer tubes. An inlet tube 5 is connected to header pipe 1 for introducing a cooling medium into the heat exchanger and an outlet tube 6 is connected to header pipe 2 for delivering the condensed cooling medium from the heat exchanger to other equipment.
The insides of header pipes 1 and 2 are divided into a plurality of spaces in their axial directions by partitions 7 and 8, respectively. The cooling medium introduced through inlet tube 5 flows in a serpentine passage shown by arrows through header pipes 1 and 2 and flat heat-transfer tubes 3 until the heat exchanged and condensed cooling medium flows out from outlet tube 6.
In such a conventional heat exchanger, allowable positions for inlet tube 5 and outlet tube 6 are generally restricted within respective small and limited areas. When the positions of inlet tube 5 and outlet tube 6 are restricted, it is often very difficult to connect pipes or tubes to the inlet and outlet tubes for introducing the cooling medium into the inlet tube and delivering the cooling medium out from the outlet tube. For instance, in a case where the heat exchanger is installed in an engine room of an automobile, pipes or tubes to be connected to inlet tube 5 and outlet tube 6 must often be drawn around the heat exchanger in a small space, because the space for locating the pipes or tubes is generally quite limited in the engine room. The installation of the pipes and tubes, therefore, is often very difficult. According to circumstances, a pipe or tube cannot generally be connected directly to the inlet tube or outlet tube of the heat exchanger. In such a case, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, inlet tube 9 (or an outlet tube) must be designed to extend to a position where a pipe or tube can be connected to the extended inlet tube 9 (or extended outlet tube).